So Close
by Tierney Beckett
Summary: Based on a scene from the dance sequence. Written from Nancy's point of view. Just a bit angsty. Please read and review!


Disclaimer: Don't own anything Disney except the dvd's.

A/N: I know. I know. There are probably hundreds of fics for 'Enchanted' out there by now with this title and based on this song. But I don't think there are any out there that take this particular point of view. So, hopefully, this is a bit original. I was inspired to write this small one-shot by an even smaller scene. Nancy's face as she pulls away from Robert at the end of the dance. It was a brilliant, subtle piece of acting by the incomparable Idina Menzel. And so, a fic was born. I hope you enjoy!

_So close  
To reaching that famous happy end.  
Almost believing  
This one's not pretend.  
_'So Close' Enchanted

* * *

She had accepted the invitation to dance with only a bit of hesitation

She had accepted the invitation to dance with only a bit of hesitation. Not that she was unsure of the man who had asked her. Giselle's…..prince…..seemed very nice. And very much in love with Giselle. No, her hesitation had been in seeing the change in Robert when he looked at Giselle. His eyes, the first thing that had drawn Nancy to him, had softened in a way she herself had never seen before. And when he smiled, there was no hint of cynicism, no small reminder of how very much he had been hurt in the past. As for Giselle, she had practically glowed.

As she whirled around with the prince….what was the man's name, anyway?...Nancy did her best to push her feelings of jealousy to the back of her mind. She had known Robert for five years and, despite her reaction to finding the towel-clad Giselle literally on top of Robert in the hallway of his apartment, she knew that he was a man to be trusted. No matter what attraction he felt for another woman, he would not stray. They were committed to one another. Perhaps not with an official engagement, but their relationship had been exclusive for the past four years. And he had been giving small hints for the past two days that he might just be ready to take the next step.

She felt somewhat reassured as she smiled up at the prince, who smiled back at her. He opened his mouth to ask her a question when she saw that his eyes had settled on something behind her. Turning her head slightly, she watched Robert and Giselle float by. For there was no other word to describe the way they moved past her. The reassurance she had felt was quickly shattered. They were totally engrossed in one another and she seriously doubted if they even realized there were other people in the room. She was unable to stop watching them, turning her head as the waltz demanded she turn away from the couple. In the back of her mind, she was aware of her dance partner doing the same thing.

Robert and Giselle swept past again and it was all Nancy could do to keep her mouth from dropping open in shock when she realized that Robert was singing to Giselle. She couldn't hear him, of course. But she saw his lips move, saw that it was in sync with the song they were dancing to. It was an unbelievably intimate, romantic moment and, oddly enough, she almost felt as if she was intruding by having seen it.

All her life it seemed, she had longed for that fairy-tale romance. Her peers in the business world had sometimes treated her vocalization of these thoughts with barely concealed scorn. They said that such things, these happily ever afters, did not exist. She maintained otherwise, though she quickly learned to keep her beliefs to herself on this matter. As she grew older, she had come to the conclusion that these friends of hers had quite possibly been more correct than she had thought. She quit looking for the fairy tale. And then she had met Robert. A kind, handsome man who obviously adored his daughter and was still trying to cope with his wife of three years leaving without so much as a goodbye. They had started as friends and, because of their mutual attraction, had naturally progressed to a more romantic relationship. She had felt secure in his affections, even if there were no grand gestures of romance, no looks that made her heart beat faster. She told herself that such things, although they were wonderful, were not required. This was a man she could build her life with. This was a child she could look upon as her own. Wasn't that all that mattered?

But she felt it all slipping away as she watched Robert lift Giselle in his arms, his eyes never leaving hers. And the smile that Giselle gave him was full of such pure, unadulterated love and adoration that it was difficult for Nancy to do what she now knew she had to do. This could not go on.

She dismissed the notion that she had broken some type of spell when she laid her hand on Robert's shoulder. Spells, enchantments, all part of that fairy tale world she had once built for herself. This was the real world. And in the real world, she and Robert were together. She was going to see to it that it stayed that way. And so she ignored the fact that Giselle looked as though someone had just crushed her most precious dream….and the fact that Robert resumed a somewhat stiff dancing stance as he took her in his arms. She did not look away from him as they made their way around the floor, determined to keep his eyes on her. Silently, she willed him to look at her as he had looked at Giselle. To pull her closer and sing softly in her ear. But of course, neither of these things happened.

Nancy couldn't say what precisely compelled her to take her next action. Part of it was borne of desperation. Part of it from a need to feel loved and desirable. Perhaps part of it came from a desire to somehow reclaim what she felt was rightly hers. She moved closer to Robert and softly pressed her lips against his. There was nothing different in the feel of his lips against hers, nothing very changed about the way he kissed her back….but there was a slight hesitation before he responded to her. And she knew when she pulled away, when she looked into his eyes, that she had lost him. She had been so close. So close to achieving her dream of a life with a good man, a life with a family.

But as they ended the dance, she couldn't help but feel that she wasn't quite as upset as she should've been.

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A/N: And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed! Review, please. I heart reviews. Thanks for taking the time to read!

Mel


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